Paul Aron maintains his grip on the FIA Formula 2 championship drivers’ standings after an intense weekend in Barcelona that also brought Hitech GP to within a point of the lead team.
After a podium in the Sprint and pole for today’s Feature Race, Paul had the team’s first win of the season firmly in his sights but for a snap of oversteer that caused him to run off track and lose position in the second stint. A brilliant recovery drive on the hard tyre saw him salvage fourth place to end the weekend on a positive note earning a double points finish together with Amaury Cordeel who was classified in P8.
Paul had set the pace from opening practice and went on to deliver a stunning qualifying lap to secure his maiden pole position in the championship. From ninth on the reversed starting grid for Saturday’s Sprint he got a strong start, made up five places, and was firmly in the fight for the final podium spot, finishing fourth before being promoted to the third step after the application of a penalty for Correa. It was his sixth podium classification in five and a half rounds.
Consistent podiums and points in the five rounds to date had propelled him into the championship lead but he was searching for this season’s elusive first win when he stormed away from pole in today’s Feature Race.
He led for the 11 laps of his opening stint then switched from the soft tyre to the hard, temporarily handing the race lead to Crawford. An ensuing VSC intervention kept him in touch with the net front-runners but on lap 16 a snap of oversteer caused him to run off track and he dropped down the order to P12.
Undefeated, he staged a brilliant comeback, overtaking O’Sullivan and Bortoleto on track and putting himself in the best possible position for another podium when the leaders made their own second stop. By lap 33 of 27 he was unable to defend against the advancing Correa on fresher tyres and in a reversal of Saturday’s fortunes the American took the position. In the Feature, Paul earned 12 championship points for P4 plus two for pole position, and six in the Sprint. He now holds 100 championship points and has a nine-point margin to his closest challenger.
Amaury Cordeel also staged a strong comeback after a disappointing Sprint, executing a perfect strategy and performance to finish in P9 on track – later promoted to P8 after the application of a penalty for Bortoleto – and earn his third points finish of the season.
Sprint Race Result – Saturday
Paul Aron – 3rd – 6 points
Amaury Cordeel – 14th
Feature Race Result – Sunday
Paul Aron – 4th – 14 points
Amaury Cordeel – 4 points
There’s hardly time to draw breath now before the action resumes next weekend at the Red Bull Ring (28-30 June), the second round of this triple-header.
